Mysterious Warrior
by AVTeckie
Summary: This story is still in the process of being written and is still in raw form. I am looking for any input in regards to storyline and character development. Please comment.
1. Chapter 1

I jerk my head around sharply and I freeze. I wait motionless, my ears straining to hear the sound again. There! I heard it again, the clash of steel on steel and the very distinctive ringing of a reverberating sword. I deep frown overcomes my face and my brow scrunches up in puzzlement. I'm startled out of my thoughts as I hear a voice cry out in pain and the thunk of metal colliding with flesh and bone. I hitch my bag up higher on my back and grip my staff tighter and make my way towards the sounds. Before long I come upon the body of a man sprawled across the forest floor. His head is in an impossible position and I realize his neck must be broken. I examine him from a distance and I think that this must all be some cruel prank bcause the man is wearing armor. Not the fancy spec ops stuff or anything like that, but real chain link and leather armor. The sword still gripped in his fist is a slender one hand broad sword.

I look up suddenly as I hear more sounds of fighting. I hear a blade collide with wood, probably a tree, and someone curses loudly but his words get cut off sharply. I start heading towards the sounds again and I hear someone talking and he laughs. He sounds like he's gloating. I stop as I find another body. He looks the same as the first man except he doesn't have a sword in his hand. It was buried in his skull. I look away quickly and swallow back the bile rising in my throat. I make my way around the body and head towards the voice.

The man sounds like he's getting ready to finish and he give a loud yell and I can imagine him raising his sword for a finishing blow. Instead of hearing his sword connect with flesh I hear it glance off steel. I hear a brief struggle punctuated with steel hitting flesh and a surprised grunt. I hear a body fall to the ground.

I swallow and realize I'm holding my breath. I let it out and start towards the sounds of heavy, labored breathing. I stop. Just ahead there are two bodies lying on the ground. Both of them lying close to a big tree. I look up a little and there is a man leaning against the tree watching me with sharp, alert eyes. He's not like the others. His armor looks like a bunch of wicked looking blades strapped all over his body. He isn't even holding a weapon. He is the weapon. I look closer and I see that he's bleeding from several deep gashes. He has blood all over the side of his face from a gash on his temple. I realize he isn't leaning against the tree. There's a sword that is caught in his armor and is lodged in the tree. I can see he's exhausted and if he weren't pinned he would just fall over. I swallow.

"If I ask you if you're the good guy or the bad guy am I going to get a honest answer?"  
A whisper of a smile crosses his face and he says, "I guess that's all a matter of opinion now isn't it? I would greatly appreciate it if you could give me a hand though."  
I smile back and I move over to him stepping around the body lying at his feet. I wedge my staff between the tree and the sword lodged in it and with a quick pull it pops out. I can see him almost collapse and I gingerly grab him under his arm being careful not to grab his sharp armor.  
" Do you have someplace where we can go?" I ask him.  
"Yes. My camp is just back there a ways. Hopefully none of these men trashed ruined my dinner."  
He puts his arm across my shoulders and I notice that there are some convenient hand holds for me to grab onto to hold him up. We stagger back to his camp. There's a small fire pit with some fish cooking on sticks over it. Off to the side a bit there's a small bag and bedroll laid out and there's another body sprawled out near it.  
"That was a pretty unfair battle eh? 5 to one are never good odds."  
"They almost had me to. There was a archer back in the trees over there..." His words trail off and I feel him collapse.

I quickly lay him out on the ground and start undoing every buckle I can get at and start taking off his armor. I go over to his bag and dump it out on the ground. There's some clothing, an ornarate carved knife, some tools, and a pouch with what must be money inside. I swear under my breath and grab the knife and take off my long-sleeved shirt and cut it into strips. I look around the site more and I spot a stream off to the side. I gram the warrior and haul him over closer to the stream. The water is cold but not terribly so and a dump him in the clear water. I lay his head on a big rock and I use part of my torn shirt to scrub his wounds binding them as I go. I finish and I drag him back over to the camp and roll him onto his bedroll and I wrap him up. I move him a little closer to the fire and I remember the fish. I check them and they look done so I move them off to the side and lay them on a flat rock beside the fire to keep them warm. I spot a cup hiding near the fire where it must have gotten knocked over earlier. I go over to the stream and fill it. I prop the mans head up a little and hold the water to his lips and I dribble it in and he drinks it all. I lay his head back down and put the cup down and I notice that he's awake. His startling blue eyes are watching me intently.  
"It's been a while since I've needed anyone to give me a hand lad." He says in a clear voice.  
I smile, "it happens to the best of us I'm afraid."  
He gives a short laugh and starts to sit up. I go to put my hand on his chest to keep him down but he deftly deflects my hand.

" I know when I'm well enough to sit up boy."  
I sit back and watch him as he checks over my binding job and I hear him muttering something as he adjusts them.

"Those fish ready?" He asks me.  
"They just finished I think" and I go over and put two on a stick and bring him one. He takes it and starts eating and I start in on mine.  
After eating in silence for a bit he asks me "you have a name boy?"  
I look up at him and pause for a second. "My names Andrew. I would appreciate it if you called me that to."  
He glances up at me and grunts. "Where you from?"  
"Not from around here I think."  
"You think? You're not from anywhere I've ever been," he mutters as he eyes my shoes and cargo pants.  
I grimace, "ya I kind of figured that.." I put down the remains of my fish and look around at the surrounding forest. "I'd ask where here is but I have a feeling the name would mean nothing to me."  
He doesn't respond and I glance at him to see those intense blue eyes staring at me.  
"What?" I ask.  
He doesn't respond for a second. He suddenly looks away and throws the remains of his fish into the fire and I hear him swear under his breath.  
I hesitate "that can't be good.." I say softly.  
"That's all a matter of opinion" I hear him rumble. He suddenly stands up and goes over to where I had put his armor and methodically starts strapping it all back on. "Put out the fire we've already stayed to long."  
I arch a questioning eyebrow at him but he ignores it so I go to do as he says. By the time I get the fire out he's already packed up.

He holds his hand out to me and I stare at it for a second wondering what he wants then I remember the knife. I grab it out of my pocket and put the handle in his hand.  
"In the future you would do well to not touch that knife again," he says to me.  
I arch an eyebrow at him again but he ignores it and tells me to follow him and he heads off into the darkening woods. I give a deep sigh and follow after him.

I catch up to him and we walk at a brisk pace well into the night. He says next to nothing to me except to mention that it good that I step softly. "A good skill to have come naturally" as he put it. For my part I keep asking questions now and then but the best responses I got was a grunt here and there.  
Sometime late in night he finally stops and tells me to get some rest. I lay down on a pile of leaves i swept together and I look around for him but he has disappeared into the darkness.

I wake up to the smell of roasting meat and the strange warrior has a pair of rabbits skinned and roasting over a small fire.  
"You sleep far to much" he says to me.  
"You sleep far to little" I say back.  
He grunts a short laugh and i see a little smile pull at the corner of his mouth.  
He uses one of the blades strapped to his forearm to split open some of the meat and it looks ready. He deftly slices off a leg and hands it to me and gets some for himself.  
As I'm eating I study his odd apparel. His forearms are sheathed in long study blades. One blade running along the side extending from about 5 inches beyond his fingertips, right back to extend in a wicked spike about 8 inches beyond his elbow. Along the top of each arm shorter, two more rod like blades run from the wrist back to the crook of his elbows. I noticed also that his left arms blades were different. Whereas the spike on his left arm extended back from the elbow, the one on his right arm was opposite running parallel to his upper arm. I assumed that this was so that you could use the left arm for more defensive maneuvers while the right provided a means of an aggressive attack. His shins were sheathed in a similar design. His torso was enclosed in a more conservative design allowing for fluid movement while allowing for maximum defense with the ability to provide attack points.  
As I examined his armor I realized that this man must be a elite warrior of some kind. His armor practically screamed it . Everything he wore and did spoke of brutal efficiency backed by hard muscle and unspeakable skill.  
I can't hold back my questions anymore. "You're a elite warrior aren't you? Someone of unmatchable skills with years and years of training. Are you a like bodyguard for a king or emperor or something?"  
He stops eating and stares off into the fire and I can see his hard features soften a little.  
"You got kicked out for some reason didn't you?" I ask him.  
He gives a deep sigh and sits back putting down his meat, "you're not going to give up on this now are you."  
I smile a bit and shake my head.  
He looks off into the woods and takes a deep breath. "Yes was an elite warrior. But not just an elite, I was the elite of the elite. I trained for four long hard years, twenty hours a day, every day of the week. I earned these weapons through blood, sweat, and tears. Killing is all I know. Ever since I was old enough I was in the army. I've been in more battles then anyone has right to."  
He pauses staring off into space.  
"What about that knife? Why is it so important? Who gave it to you?"  
He ignores my questions. "Yes you were right. I was a bodyguard to the king. The elite of the elite of the elite as it were. And I was good. Very good. I became number one. I was in charge of all the royal guard. But kicked out? No I wasn't kicked out. Not officially anyways. No, I was sent out on a grand quest. A fools quest everyone said. And I knew it to. But I had to do as I was commanded." He mutters something else but I don't quite catch it.  
"That doesn't tell me what the knife has to do with it." I point out.  
He stands up and starts kicking out the fire. "Its time to go. If you can keep going all day we'll have a bed to sleep on tonight.


	2. Chapter 2

I gradually became aware of a hard lumpy mattress underneath my back. Then I groaned in pain as my legs woke up. They're not really use to walking two days straight at a solid pace. I manage to pry my eyes open and am greeted by the sight of low rafters tied together supporting a framework of clay shingles. I look around and take in the small room of which my bed occupies almost half of. My few things lay in the corner. My shoes beside my bed. A low doorway with a rough woven blanket hanging down. Light is seeping in through the joints in the rough lumber walls. I sit up and my muscles scream in pain again. I hear a familiar grunt in the next room and hear them come over and draw back the blanket. A familiar face peers in.

"Took you long enough. You've missed half the day already." My mysterious warrior rumbles to me.

"Ya well I'm sure you've done this a few times in your hey day." I shoot back at him.

"Yes I did. Once. Now get up we got things to do."

I roll my eyes at the closed divider and I get out of bed and stretch gingerly popping all my joints. I stop midway though my stretching and stare at my right hand. The palm was stained black. Not like just ink spilled on your hand black. It was black black. I scraped it with my fingernail but nothing came off. I put my shoes on and wandered into the next room inspecting my hand once more. The main room was a little bigger then the bedroom. Enough room for a low table, a fireplace in a corner, and three other doorways one of which was open and leading outside. I stoop through the low doorway and just stand, stupefied by the sight that lay before me. Warriors everywhere. Just like my mysterious warrior. But not just men but women to, all dressed in the same brutal armor. At first I thought that they were getting ready for battle but as I looked on I realized that they were just going about their everyday tasks. Just minding their own business.

I sensed a presence behind me but before I could look a body pressed up against my back and I could feel the sharp armor pressing against me. I didn't even have time to blink and I felt the cold blades of a forearm guard pressing against my neck. A shiver ran up my spine but I did my best not to even move a muscle. We stood there for what seemed like hours as people just passed us by, paying us no heed. The pressure on my neck never even twitched, I couldn't even feel their breath on my neck. Suddenly a womans voice said right into my ear,

"Most men would have at least tried to grab my arm by now." She whispered into my ear.

"I am not most men." I replied trying to move as little as possible. "Besides the fact that I'll only slice my fingers off if I try that."

I waited counting my pounding heart beats.

"Follow me." She said curtly, and the pressure left my throat.

I take a deep breath and try to calm my heart and turn to look at the warrior who had caught me by surprise. I did a double take. She didn't even come up to my shoulders. I didn't have time to think about it as I rushed to catch up before I lost her. She started leading me through the village at a brisk pace. I started looking around a little bit more and I noticed something. Everyones armor was actually completely different. Well sure, there was the basic design. But everyone's was made differently. Some people had designs etched into the blades. Some had wild tassels flying everywhere. Paint, number of blades, size of blades, you name it, it was unique. We started to pass through what seemed to be a more industrial section and I could see into the open fronted structures. There was a few people working in every place. Some where working metal, some were working leather, some were preparing food. Everywhere we went though, I felt as if I were invisible. No one acknowledged my presence.

I looked ahead again and I noticed that we were nearing a larger structure then the rest. A thought occurred to me.. Where's the king?

We arrived at the large structure and my guide thrust the double doors apart. We entered into a small antechamber were we were greeted by a mountain of a man. I don't exaggerate mountain by and meaning of the word either. I couldn't help but stare and he wasn't even wearing much armor. He was bare chested, exposing his enormous pectoral muscles and solid torso. He was wearing shorts cinched by a wide leather belt. The only weapon on him was his shin guards which formed into spikes jutting up from the knee. His biceps were bigger then my thighs and I'm quite certain he could crush my skull with one hand. He was clean shaved and completely bald, but the thing that really caught my attention was that he was blindfolded. He cocked his head and I knew without a doubt that he was looking at me. He lifted one massive arm and pointed towards a bench to one side. I moved over to the bench and sat the whole time his invisible gaze following me.

I finally tore my gaze off of him and looked at my surroundings. I noticed my guide had disappeared as silently as she had came. There were elaborate tapestries covering the walls depicting what looked like battle scenes. I recognized the unique look of the elite warriors throughout the scenes. I followed the flow of the pictures seeing what basically looked like a rebellion in which the elite warriors ended up ruling over the land. There was something that nagged me about one of the main figures but I couldn't put my finger on it.

My musings were interrupted as I heard heated argument coming from the closed room. I looked up at the guard towering over me. I could have sworn he never twitched a muscle the whole time I was there. I jumped as he suddenly moved to one side and opened the door with one massive hand. He turned his head slightly towards me so I stood up and took a deep breath and stepped through the door.

It was a large room, but my wandering eyes were quickly drawn to the the four men before me. I took a double take as I realized one of the men was a woman. Besides the other two, of whom I assumed were leaders of some sort, was my mysterious warrior, standing off to one side looking none to pleased. I was a little surprised by the appearance of this council as they were dressed no differently then anyone else in the camp. No distinguishing marks of any kind. Their faces were hard, showing no emotion, lined with long years of wisdom with a few scars thrown in. The woman spoke first.

"Who are you and what land have you come from?" Her voice startled me. I expected it to be rough and.. well manly. Instead it was a melodious voice with hard undertones. The kind of voice that makes you stop and listen in wonder and you find yourself responding before you realize it. The voice of authority.

I gave myself a mental shake and collected my thoughts again. I decided to play along for now.

"My name is Andrew and I come from a land called America."

This brought no outward reaction but I could feel the mood get a little more tense.

"How did you come to be here?" the man on the right demanded, he was a man used to getting answers.

I glanced over at my warrior but he just stood staring stonily at the wall behind me.

"I was talking a walk in the woods near my home when I came across my friend here while he was playing tag with a few soldiers."

This elicited a snort from my newly declared friend and the elder on the right shot him a glare.

Suddenly the woman took a quick step towards me quicker then I could blink and snatched my right hand, holding it in a iron grip. Before I could protest a wicked looking knife appeared her hand and she drew a shallow cut across my black palm. I winced in pain but before I could protest I stared in astonishment as the cut oozed black blood.

She let go and stepped back to the others as I stared in confusion at my hand. I noticed they were all watching me intently to see my reaction. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Since you so _bluntly_ broached the subject, what is wrong with my hand – I didn't have this a few days ago."

The elder in the middle spoke in a voice so deep I felt my chest rumble. "Think back. In these past few days, what has happened to you that has been a little... out of the ordinary."

"Well if you mean besides wandering into a completely foreign forest and meeting a warrior dressed in the weirdest armor I have ever seen, who is being attacked by four guys right out of the dark ages, then walking for two days to a camp filled with the scariest people I have ever seen.. I have absolutely no idea – but since you asked me, I have to assume you already know the answer."

The only answer I received was their intense stares.

I sighed and tried to think back. What had I done that I don't usually do. Jumping into the middle of a battle right out of... It struck me.

"The knife. The knife did this to me."

The only response I got was a single nod from the elder in the middle. Before I could ask anything more the woman spoke up again.

"You will go with the schlemiel -"

"You will not call me that!" My warrior shouted. I could have cut the tension with a knife.

My warrior paused and looked away for a moment, and when he spoke again, it felt like the temperature had dropped below freezing.

"I was following orders. I did as I was commanded, which is more then any of you did. Now look who are the fools. The boy is here, prophecy has been fulfilled, I will reclaim my name."

His words left my head spinning as I stared at him. The implications of what he had just said shocked me to the core. My lungs were screaming and I finally remembered to breathe.

"So be it. You alone carry your words, no one else." The middle elder turned to me and continued, "heed our words, earn the name you carry, prove yourself to us and we will prove ourselves to you. Do not fail us."

My knees threatened to give out as the three elders turned and left through a door in the back of the room. I stood there staring at the door.

"Bryce."

I looked over at him in a daze. "What?"

"My name is Bryce." His brow together in concern as he looked at me. "You ok? You don't look to well."

That was the last thing I heard before my head hit the floor.


	3. Chapter 3

"_Will you do it?"_

"_No... We will ALL have to do it if there is any chance at all."_

"_... You can't change it you know that."_

"_A battle is not won until it is fought."_

"_You can not change fate."_

"_I can try..."_

They say you learn something new every day. Today I was learning that you shouldn't faint on a hardwood floor unless someone is going to catch you. It felt like my skull had split open and someone had replaced my brains for hot coals.

"Easy now, you had a rough fall." Said a unfamiliar voice.

I pried a eye open and was greeted by a gigantic knee spike not far from my face. My head almost popped off as I turned to see the rest of the person crouching beside my bed. It was the giant that had been guarding the council doors. His chiseled face held a small smile of amusement and when I met his gaze I did a double take. His eyes were mismatched. The right eye was a pale violet color while the left was a pale green.

I groaned out a sigh. "I didn't recognize you without your blindfold."

A grin split his face. "Well met Andrew. My name is Orpheus."

I tried to sit up and I felt my arm engulfed by one of his hands as he gently helped support me. I recalled something the elders had said to me.

"That's a interesting name, how did you earn it?" I inquired.

"It means skull. I earned it by crushing my enemies skulls with my bare hands."

I eyed his massive hand draped over his knee and I had no trouble believing that claim. I noticed Bryce standing to one side looking a little impatient.

"You well enough to stand yet?" He asked gruffly.

"Whats the hurry?"

"We have lots of work to be done." He then turned and left through the doorway, I noticed it was bigger then the door I had seen when I woke up that morning.

"Don't mind him" Orpheus chuckled, "he's had a rough day."

"So it would seem." I idly rubbed my black palm wondering what could be done as I gazed around the room. It must be Orpheus's house as the dimensions were much more spacious. He anticipated my question.

"You're at my house. Bryce didn't feel like living up to his name -"

"I heard that" Bryce called from outside.

Orpheus chuckled again. "My house is closer to the training grounds and Bryce is not one to wait when he is in a foul mood."

"I noticed" I said as I stood, grimacing as I rolled my head around to relieve the ache. "You people certainly don't waste time do you?"

My thoughts were interrupted as Orpheus stood up. When he finally reached his full hight I realized he was much bigger up close. I gaped up at him towering over me, easily reaching seven and a half feet. His biceps were thicker then my thighs and his pectoral muscles filled my vision.

He grinned at my stares, "don't worry you'll get used to it."

"_I heard you had returned. Are the rumors true?"_

"_For the most part I'm sure."_

"_.. I had hoped they were wrong for once.."_

"_Is it really such a bad thing?"_

"_I don't want to lose you again."_

"_We both know you could have changed that."_

Full battle gear was truly a sight to behold. When I had first met Bryce, he had just been wearing "regular armor" as Orpheus called it. I don't think I could have imagined that anything could look even more deadly. Bryce stood in the middle of a small arena glittering, the sunlight reflecting off all the polished edges of the blades strapped to his body. Some of it was incredibly intricate and yet incredibly deadly at the same time. I realized there was someone on the field with him and I almost mistook it for a shadow. It was another warrior that was dressed head to toe in strips of black cloth, layer upon layer. I could see blades peeking out here and there as the breeze shifted the strips of cloth. Before I could examine the shaggy mass further, a bell rang and I saw why the odd garb.

The black warrior zig zagged towards Bryce, dancing back and forth closing the distance quickly. Every time he changed directions the mass of cloth would continue the movement for a fraction of a second giving the illusion that the warrior was where he wasn't. Bryce dodged to the side at the last second and swung at the black warrior but only caught a few strips of cloth. The black warrior hardly paused as he jogged in a little circle around Bryce, feinting, probing his defense and reactions. Bryce hardly batted a eye. He turned and took a step and in a flash the black warrior was upon him. Steel clashed in a flurry of blows quicker then I could follow. The black warrior spun away and aimed a quick kick at Bryce's knee and for a I feared he would snap it. I flinched at the loud snap as the armor at the knee joint locked together preventing it from bending backwards. The blow was hard enough to knock him off balance though and he took a few steps back to recover from the exchange. I couldn't take my eyes off them. The lack of sounds from the fight was unnerving – no yelling or panting. The contestants eyed each other for a second then the black warrior advanced once more. He feinted and aimed a viscous kick to Bryce's midsection. Bryce stepped back just avoiding the wicked heel spike and before the black warrior could finish his spin, stepped forward in a flash wrapping one arm around his neck and driving a knee spike into his back.

"_Should I take it yet?"_

"_Wait.. We can't mess this up"_

"_What does it matter? They're surrounded anyways."_

"_We'll never find him if you screw this up."_

The two warriors parted and bowed to each other, ending the duel.

"He certainly hasn't lost his touch." Orpheus said quietly.

I glanced over at him and blinked in surprise, he had donned full battle armor as well during the duel. How he did it so quickly and quietly was beyond me. I turned my attention back to the dueling ring as Bryce and the other warrior made their way towards us. The black warrior pulled off their hood and to my surprise it was a woman. I was going to get white hair if these people kept doing this to me. They stopped in front of us, they weren't even breathing hard, and Bryce opened his mouth to say something, but he paused as something caught his attention.

The air left my lungs in a explosive "whoof" as he hit me in the chest. Time seemed to slow as I fell and I watched as an arrow seemed to materialize in the space my head had just been occupying. I listened to the zipping sound it made as it went by my face, and everything slammed back into motion as I hit the ground.

The female warrior became a blur of motion as she went into the village raising an alert as she went. Orpheus grabbed me and hauled me off the ground as I tried to get my breath back. I heard the clanging of bells ringing throughout the village and then chaos erupted. Warriors were rushing in every direction, strapping on armor and weapons. I looked past over Bryces shoulder and we watched as a line of soldiers advanced out of the tree line with swords drawn.

"Get him to the council chambers and protect him at all costs." Bryce told Orpheus in a low voice.

He had hardly finished speaking before we were on our way. I tried to keep up as Orpheus half carried me, Bryce close behind yelling orders, organizing a defense. I heard snatches of reports saying that there were soldiers coming from all sides, we were surrounded. I could see the council chamber coming up when we abruptly everyone changed directions and started taking cover. No sooner had we gotten under cover when a hail of arrows fell to the ground. It sounded like a hailstorm on the roof. Three waves of arrows fell from the sky then Bryce picked me back up and we finished the dash to the council chambers.

I collapsed on a bench still trying to catch my breath. Orpheus stood in the doorway silently watching everyone rushing around setting up defenses. Sounds of combat began to ring out all around us. I looked up at Orpheus and finally put voice to the question in my head.

"Who are these guys?"

"Thugs who think they can fight." He said as he spat on the ground.

"Who sent them? Why are they here?" I stood up and faced him so I didn't have to crane my neck.

He paused for a moment, listening to the pitched combat. "The pretender King sent them to kill you." He said quietly.

I sat back down. "Is someone going to tell me what in the world is going on here?"

Before he could answer, Bryce came running up. He was covered in blood. "We need to get out of here. They brought the whole stinking army." He turned to Orpheus and started conversing with him in low tones as I sat in stunned silence.

I was dimly aware of Orpheus leaving at a run as Bryce came over to me.

"Get up we need to move. Hey, Andrew are you listening?" He gave me a rough slap across the face and I looked up in surprise. "We need to move, get on your feet. I need you to do everything I tell you without hesitation if you want to get out of this alive."

I nodded at him as I stood up. He gave me a measuring stare.

"Don't worry, I'll explain everything once we get out of this mess, but right now I need you to concentrate on living long enough to let me, am I clear?"

I took a deep breath, wincing at the lingering pain in my chest. "Yes sir. Lets get the hell out of Dodge."

He raised a questioning eyebrow at my comment but let it be. I followed him over to the doorway and he paused. The woman in black from the duel came running up.

"Orpheus told me, he's rounding up some of the others in between cracking skulls. He said to start heading out and they'll catch up. I heard reports that the enemy lines seem to be weaker along the west side."

"Then we head south." Bryce said as we started out at a quick pace.

"They have calvary along the southwest, they're keeping them out of the village but they may bring them around to flank us when we break through."

"Go tell Orpheus where we're going and organize a diversion to draw off the calvary long enough for us to make the river."

The woman took off at a dead run to do as he said.

The sounds of combat drew closer as we arrived at the battle line. I began to see dead soldiers around, bunched together like animals at a slaughter. I finally saw one of the warriors, but by the looks of it the death toll was easily 50 to 1 if not more. A few more warriors joined us, each just as grim and bloody as Bryce. One of them handed a short sword to me and I reluctantly took it. Orpheus and the black warrior rejoined us to make the group 8.

We came into view of the battle line and I almost missed a step. Soldiers were still coming out of the forest. The warriors though were what caught my attention. In the street there were just a handful fighting off the army. The warriors were just flowing through the soldiers, cutting them down with every step.

I ran out of time to watch as our group started into a run, Orpheus at point, the warrior flanking me to each side.

Battle is a hideous thing. No matter how many books, or movies, or lectures you go through, it will never prepare you for the real thing. I expected to hear the brutal clash of metal on metal as our group finally hit the battle line. Instead I heard the sounds of swords being deflected, metal impacting on flesh, screams of people dieing a hideous death. Not a single soldier so much as swung at me before he was cut down. I saw a warrior on my left stumble as a sword slipped through his defense, gashing his leg. Suddenly there was one less on my right, I didn't see what happened to him. A soldier dashed through the opening and I swung wildly at him, but the woman in black beat me two it, dropping back to take him out. He outfit wasn't as fluttery as before, all matted from blood. I heard pounding hoofs and my heat dropped to my stomach as I tried to see where they were coming from. I caught sight of them, coming at us head on, soldiers frantically trying to get out of the way.

They were on us before I knew what to do. I caught sight of Orpheus lowering his shoulder almost looking as if he was going to ram the warhorse coming towards him. At the last moment he stepped to the side and dropped to one knee delivering a might swing at the horses front leg. With a crunching of bone the leg snapped and the horse became a train wreck heading right towards me. Bryce slammed into me from the side once again knocking me out of harms way.

"Get up now!" He yelled at me as he scrambled to his feet, slicing through the defenses of a soldier trying to take advantage of downed opponents. I scrambled to my feet as Orpheus appeared through the masses, literally throwing men aside. I realized I didn't see any of the other warriors as Bryce and Orpheus stood their ground around me, stopping every soldier that came at us. I heard the horses coming back around but as I caught sight of them I realized their mounts were no longer on them, but warriors instead. The woman in black was making a beeline towards me and I got ready to get on.

"Orpheus give me a hand!" I yelled to him. I grabbed onto the womans hand as she came up and I felt Orpheus grab my ankle and I all but flew up onto the horse.

I saw Bryce getting behind another rider and Orpheus jumped up onto another mount as that rider doubled up with another. It almost looked as if the horse would buckle under him. A soldier grabbed my leg and I swung my sword at him hitting his helmet and he let go. Before anyone else had a chance to unhorse me, my rider dug in her heels and I had to scramble for a handhold without slicing myself open. I tried desperately not to fall off as galloped, knocking soldiers out of the way. I was able to look around and I noticed we had lost another warrior.

The crowd was thinning out as we put distance between us and the village, the soldiers weren't about to let us go though. They were hot on our heels, yelling for reinforcements.

I wondered what we were going to do once we reached the river, surely the army would have thought to at least guard any boats there. I was about to find out, I caught a glimpse of water coming up. I saw soldiers lining the banks, behind them a few rafts were on fire. We didn't stop. We hit the line by the bank of the river and a few of the warriors jumped of their their mounts to engage them. I was all but flung off the horse as my rider dismounted and I stumbled as I hit the ground. Bryce came out of nowhere and hauled me up.

"Common where are they." I caught him say as he looked past me up the river. A soldier came out of nowhere bowling into Bryce knocking him to the ground. Another soldier was right behind him and came at me with sword raised. The female warrior came up behind him wrapping a arm around his neck and viciously cut his throat with her forearm blades. The soldier fell to his knees in front of me grasping his throat. I couldn't take my eyes off of him as he fell over, his life draining away. Bryce was back up.

"Get into the river now!" He yelled and gave me a rough shove.

I tore my eyes off the dieing soldier and stumbled towards the water, wondering what I was supposed to do. I heard a zipping sound and I realized there was a raft on the river, coming downstream. There were two archers on the raft firing on the soldiers with deadly aim. I ran into the water and tried to make my way to the middle of the stream as fast as I could. I heard splashes behind me as the other warriors followed. I sputtered as the stream got deeper suddenly and I went under for a moment. I dropped the sword and started swimming as best I could. I tried to keep a eye on the approaching raft. It finally got within arms length and I grabbed frantically at the edge. One of the archers reached down and grabbed me, hauling me up over the edge. I lay there gasping for breath as the other warriors climbed on board. I noticed we were missing another two and I looked back and saw they were pacing us on the bank, preventing the soldiers from getting to us. Both of the archers were firing again, taking down enemy archers arriving on the bank. Some of the warriors took up paddles and started us moving faster down the river to get us out of range.

We sounds of battle gradually died off as we got further away. The archers kept a close eye on the banks.

"How did you know the raft was coming?" I asked Bryce.

"First lesson. Always have a backup plan." He rumbled back to me. "Are you injured?"

I checked over myself to make sure, "no I think I'm fine."

I saw Orpheus looking down. "Shall we take out the bridge?" He asked.

Bryce grunted. "Might as well, need to put as much distance as possible between us and their calvary."

They all took up paddles and started heading us towards the far bank.

"Better hurry," one of the archers said, "the calvary is already on the way."

Bryce swore under his breath and they paddled harder, the bridge coming up ahead. We hit the bank and Orpheus jumped off and ran to the bridge. He slammed a massive shoulder into one of the supports, bursting it into splinters. He hit the second support and it cracked but didn't break. He took a step back and then punched it with his massive fist, finally breaking it completely. He reached up and grabbed the piece he had just broken, lifting himself up. He grabbed a cross strut and yanked it out of place. I heard the bridge groan as I scrambled up the bank.

"Here they come." One of the archers said as he drew his bow and let fly a arrow.

I heard another support being ripped out and I could see the bridge start to shake a little.

"Is he going to take it down in time?" I asked Bryce

"I hope so, he helped build it." He said back. "They designed it to come down if needed."

I watched the calvary galloping towards the bridge, getting picked off one by one by the two archers. They reached the foot of the bridge and starting coming across.

"Now!" Bryce yelled.

With one last loud splintering sound, Orpheus came back out from under the bridge and came up the bank, turning to watch his handiwork.

The calvary had just gotten to the halfway point and and suddenly with a a great crack and splintering of wood, the span gave way, coming apart as it fell into the river. Soldiers were tossed off their mounts into the water and got dragged down by their armor. The archers picked off a few that made it to the bank.

"Lets move, we have to get out of here before they find a way around." The woman said.

The archers picked up some of the gear they brought from the raft and we headed down the road a little ways before Bryce led us into the forest.


	4. Chapter 4

I jerked awake and winced as my body screamed in pain. I looked at the quarter moon, shrouded by the leafy canopy overhead. It was sometime in the middle of the night. We had been on the run for three days now. We had run into scattered patrols, but had managed not to get into a fight all but once. That was when I had almost got run over by a horse. I managed to get out of it with a dislocated shoulder. I rolled my left shoulder and could still feel it grinding a bit in the socket.  
I got up gingerly and quietly made my way out of our small camp to stretch a little. I tried not to step on anyone in the dark. I walked through the forest quietly, taking my time knowing that whoever was on watch would no doubt find me shortly.  
"Still can't sleep well?" A quiet voice came from the shadows on my right. It was Marcie. I could barely see her in the shadows with her camouflage suit.  
I gave a deep sigh and shook my head.  
"Walk with me." She said and came out of the shadows and heading further into the forest.  
I fell into step beside her as we meandered through the tall maple trees.  
"How are you doing?" she asked after a little ways.  
"Well... if you ignore the fact that I'm running for my life from soldiers I know nothing about, who want to kill me for a reason I know nothing about, with a rag tag bunch of elite warriors I know nothing about, who like to keep a lot of secrets, and I can't sleep even though you people have run me into the ground for the last three days. I suppose I'm doing just fine."  
We walked in silence for a few minutes.  
"Well, most of that is going to change pretty soon." She said softly.  
I stopped and looked at her, curious as to what she was going to say next. "What do you mean by that?"  
She turned back to me and looked into my eyes. "I'm sorry" she said, almost in a whisper.  
I heard a twig snap softly behind me and my heart sank. Then my head exploded in pain and the last thing I saw was the ground rushing towards me before my vision went black.

_"It had to happen sooner or later."  
"Don't play me for a fool, you knew all along."  
"None of it would have worked otherwise."  
"You don't know –"  
"You've trusted me this far, trust me now."_

As I slowly became aware of my surroundings once more, I began to wish that I didn't. My head throbbed and my shoulder ground painfully in its socket as I was carried roughly, my feet dragging behind. I could hear the rattling of armor to either side of me, marching in sync. I guess we were finally there, wherever there was. I was glad to have my head out of the rough burlap sack, but the smell of sweaty horses stuck in my nostrils. I'd been in and out of consciousness and I had lost track of time. I opened my eyes and watched the flagstone floor pass beneath me at a steady pace, marching feet to each side of my vision. I looked ahead and saw that we were going down some kind of long, torchlight hallway. Marcie was in front of us, setting the quick pace the black cloth fluttering behind her. How she could have betrayed me I didn't know, or even if she had betrayed me. I wish someone would tell me what's going on.  
The guards noticed I was awake and slowed down enough to hoist me up and I stumbled into a walk, almost falling as they shoved me forward. I guess they were tired of carrying me. I looked around a little more. There were no paintings or tapestries, just doorways here and there with no markings. I guess it was some kind of service hallway. I almost collided with Marcie as she stopped at a doorway. I couldn't tell it apart from the others. She looked at my guards and one of the grabbed my arm and turned me around. I heard the rustle of movement then the quite snick of a lock opening. I turned around as the door swung open on silent hinges. She motioned me into the room, checked the hallway, and then closed the door behind us.  
We were in a largish room, some kind of meeting room or council chambers. There was a large table running the length of the room, with tall back chairs neatly set all around it. One of my guards pulled out a chair near the middle of the table and the other pushed me down to sit. They stood silently behind me as Marcie slowly paced just to our right. We waited, Marcie's quite footsteps and the hissing of the torches filling the silence.

_Intercepted Letter:  
"We need to accelerate our plans. The fool is going to bring it down around our ears. I will be there soon. Begin the preparations, meet me at the usual location when we arrive."  
~Shadow_

The main doors opened and a brute of a man came through. His eyes locked onto me and I knew at once he was much more then just a brute. He was a intelligent brute. I didn't have time to think further as two more soldiers came through opening the doors all the way, and behind them came the king.  
He was dressed in simple robes – if you can call diamond encrusted robes simple, with a simple gold crown on his head, with one large ruby framed front and center. It had the looks of something that had been passed down for ages. He was of average height with soft, rounded features. Not exactly what I had pictured as a "pretender king". He stopped across the table from me and pursed his lips in thought.  
"So. This is prophecy in flesh is it? Here to remove me from my throne are we?"  
It didn't sound like a question that I was supposed to answer. At least in filled in a few blanks.  
The brute growled, "I still think it's a load of -"  
"You've stated your opinion numerous times," the king said as if he were scolding a child, "do you think me so old that I forget so easily?"  
The brute ground his teeth and turned his glare towards me as if I was the problem, which admittedly most likely was by the sounds of it.  
The king turned back to me pursing his lips in thought again. "Do you have anything to say?" he asked, as if I had any say in the matter.  
"Well, as long as you're asking, I'm absolutely starving so maybe I could get a nice hot meal, but not before I get my head looked at, it seems I took a nasty bump and I don't want to get a infection. After dinner I would love a nice hot bath followed by a nice big, soft bed and to sleep all night. But I'm sure that you are just as willing to fill my requests as you are to answer any questions I say, or even listen to what I have to say." I sat back and caught my breath, wondering if I had just made the worst mistake of my life.  
A slight smile tugged at the corner of the king's lip. "Indeed." He drawled out. He turned his attention to Marcie. "Marcie, will you see to his…" he glanced at me again with a placating smile, "accommodations. Oh and don't forget about his, hot meal and bath." His smile dropped as he gave me a final icy look before he turned and left, the doors banging shut before Marcie even finished bowing her head.

I gave up counting doors and how many corners we turned. Marcie had dismmissed the guards after our meeting with the King - not like they were really needed anyways. The door we finally stopped at looked no different then any of the others. She knocked twice and we waited. I was beggining to wonder if there was anyone else in the castle. The dorr swung open silently and a hooded figure peered out at us saying nothing. He nodded once and stepped aside to let us in, Marcie stopping and turned to him.  
"Are they all here?" She asked quietly  
"You are the last to arrive." Came the equally quiet response. He checked the hall behind us and then shut the door.  
We were standing in a bedroom, the secret doorway was behind a tapestry that had been pulled back. There was a huge four post bed and tapestries hanging all around the room. Just before we went into the main room, Marcie stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.  
"I don't expect you to have any idea of what is happening, the events that you have started - but please. Keep you ears, and mind, open to what you are about to hear." She looked intensly into my eyes to see if I understood.  
I looked back, confused again at the change of events. I swallowed the questions brewing and nodded once.  
There was a handful of people waiting for us. What little conversation that was happening died off and people stood coming to form a semi-circle before us. They were all dressed differently, according to trade as far as I could tell, men and women alike. One thing was the same though. They all wore the same simple expressionless mask.  
"Welcome to the Underground." Marcie said beside me. "Each of us has special talents, all of us brought together to this room for one cause. To restore the throne to the rightful heir. To long have we suffered under wrongful rulers." Her voice was filled with a hard passion, making my spine tingle with its athority.  
""The Elites sought to use you for their own ends, to rule with a mighty fist. They have a great many secrets and shield them with deception and half-truths." It had taken me a second to see who was speaking as the masks hid their mouths. It was a man dressed in volumous, coulorful robes - maybe a merchant.  
"The present King rules through fear, and the fear of you ending his rule is what makes him fear you. He will kill you out of spite though he knows this will only incite the prophecies being wispered in his ear." It was a young woman dressed in servants clothes, speaking in a soft voice.  
"And we, the Underground," Marcie came around in front of me, "we seek to bring the King off his thrown, to deny the Elites the power they seek, and to put the real King on the thrown once again."  
The torches hissed and popped in the silence. "Where is this King?" I asked.  
This brought a uneasy rustle to the room, the members looking a little... sheepish oddly enough.  
"We don't know." Someone said softly.


	5. Chapter 5

My feet pounded on the cold stone as I ran down the long hallway. It had been easy to figure out how to open the door from the inside, though it had taken me a few minutes more to find the secret release in the hallway so I could get back into the room, or any other room. I skidded to a halt and a T junction and tried to catch my breath. I looked behind me but saw no one. I wondered how long it would be until Marcie found out I was missing.

I turned right and tried to pace myself. I wished I knew the layout, or even how big this castle was because the hallways never seemed to end. I turned left down another hallway and let out a yelp as I almost jumped out of my skin.

"Lost?" Marcie asked with a bemused expression

I tried not to look sheepish.

"Really, where do you think you're going?" She had a half smirk going now. "You haven't the slightest idea where you are."

"I was trying to change that." I said under my breath.

She sighed and gave me a long look. "Fine. Come with me."

"So are you going to tell me whats going on? You seem to be switching sides on a regular basis." I asked as we walked. "You've obviously been trained by the elites, you seem to be on the kings good side, and you work with this rebellion."

We stopped at a door and she triggered the hidden release. We stepped out of an alcove into a more public looking hallway, though there was no one there at the moment. We headed right as she started talking.

"Well. The underground initially contacted me when I was well on my way to joining the kings personal guard. I was commanding the advanced scout division at the time. They managed to plant enough ideas in my head that I realized what the King was doing is wrong and that I should help them and their cause. It was soon after this that I was sent on a mission to infiltrate the elite ranks and gather information for the King, as well as the underground." We turned into a short hallway with a large stairway spiraling upwards.

"And they just accepted you just like that?" I asked.

She wrinkled her nose, "of course not. It was nearly two years before they fully accepted me. By then however, I was was the equal of any warrior there. I was trained by Bryce for most of the time as a matter of fact, before he was sent here. The council had heard rumors of a rebellion stirring and wanted to verify this and to contact them. Before he left however, I was able to talk to him and tell him who I really was. I was able to secretly give him a formal letter of recommendation to the King, as well as a letter to present to the underground when he made contact." She paused as we stepped out onto the battlement.

The castle was enormous. I understood now why she had looked so amused when she caught me. I could have been wandering for days on end. She dismissed the soldiers standing guard and continued her tale.

"It was months before we heard from him and we feared that he had been found out. Finally however we received a message. He had been accepted into the Kings ranks and had made contact with the underground. He sent us information and updates on negotiations with the underground. Nearly half a year later though, the rumors started." She paused, resting her elbows on the crenelations as she stared off into the distance.

"The rumors?" I asked breaking the silence.

"We think they starting coming from here, the castle, though no one knows for sure. There were rumors that a wizard had revealed himself.. a wizard.. after all these years... imagine what it would be like to meet such a man.." She blinked a couple times as she realized where she was. "This wizard had come forth to reveal a prophecy it seems. The elite sent men to find him, the King as well of course, though they never did find him. The prophecy was another matter however. It caught on like wildfire, threatening to engulf everyone. You've already heard of this prophecy I believe. The ranks of the underground quickly swelled and soldiers deserted to join the elites. Small rebellions broke out and were quenched just as quickly. Events transpired that verified the truth of the prophecy and the Kings paranoia took control. He sent dozens of his most trusted men out to wait for the prophecy to manifest itself. But nothing ever happened. The rebellions died out, disagreement grew between the elite and the underground, the King's son started hunting the underground, the prophecy was forgotten. The King eventually died and his son took over, butchering his rule even worse then his father."

"Wait hold on here." I stopped her. "This sounds like it was ages ago, not just a few years, but you speak as if you were there. You're not that old."

She smiled in a funny way. "I still look beautiful for a woman of 92 do I?"

My jaw hit the stone floor. "What? How can you? You're? That's crazy!" I stammered. She look far to amused at my disbelief.

"My lineage comes from a line descended of great men and women. At some point before anyone can even remember, the wizards were not only plentiful, but rulers as well. Some of them experimented with things. And as with all things, some of them sought to forbid death from claiming them. They never succeeded. They did however find a way to stave it off a while. Pure breeds like myself can live a good 400 years less we meet an untimely end."

I sank down with my back against the wall before I fell over. "I swear, you people are going to give me white hair before I'm 30." I muttered.


	6. Chapter 6

Camping was nothing compared to straw mats. Apparently I wasn't important enough to get a real mattress. The uncomfortable bedding was bad enough, but the words Marcie had said to me made sleep all but impossible. It was some time in the middle of the night, the fire had nearly burned out and there was spreading but a low glow across the room. I got up and wandered around the room a bit wishing there was a window so that I could get some fresh air. I heard a soft creak of leather and I paused in my pacing, waiting to hear the sound again. Suddenly I noticed there was a figure stealthily crossing the firelight going towards my bed. I heard the soft whispering of steel and leather and knew that the figure had drawn a blade. I put my short training with the elites to some good use and made my way up behind him quickly and quietly. He got to my bed leaving over to peer into the darkness and paused in surprise, he slowly straightened but it was too late.

I wrapped my left arm around his neck and drove my knee into his back driving him forward onto the bed. He landed hard and the impact drove the wind out of his lungs in a sharp oof. I hit him hard in his kidney and thankfully he wasn't wearing any armour. I heard a soft clatter as he dropped the knife. I took my knee off his back and hauled him up throwing him onto his back hard. I lifted my fist to hit him but he was already out cold.

I sat up and took a deep breath then went and put some more wood on the fire. I went to the door and told the guard outside to get Marcie. I closed the door again and went back to my bed to find the knife. It was a short little thing, barely the length of my hand. I noticed that the top half of the blade had a darker sheen to it. I guessed that it was coated in poison. It gave me an idea.

By the time Marcie came in, my prisoner had woken up and was sulking in the corner.

"You have a guest I see. Are you alright?" She asked me, eyeing the man in the corner.

"Besides a lack of sleep I'm fine. He had this." I handed her the knife, "careful, the blade is poisoned." I winked at her as I said it and she gave me a small smile.

"Let us see who sent him then." She turned to the prisoner and pulled him to his feet with a sharp yank eliciting a small yelp. "How much am I going to have to hurt you before I get an answer?"

"You haven't even asked me a question." He said quietly.

In the blink of an eye she had his knife point a hair away from is eyeball. Fear passed through his eyes as he tried to shy away from the blade but to no avail.

"I wonder what you happen if we gave you a dose of your own medicine." She asked.

I could hear him swallow from across the room. "You might as well just kill me now because I won't tell you anything."

In answer she pressed the edge of the blade to his cheek and started pulling down ever so slowly.

"Ok ok I'll tell you" he blurted out. "it was a middleman I don't know who hired me. He gave me some gold and told me what room he was staying in and how to use the secret passageway. That's all I know I swear."

Marcie stared at him hard. "I hate liars" she said and drew the knife down his cheek gashing it open.

The man fell to the floor grasping his face. He started scrambling for his pockets in a panic, his eyes wide with fear. He finally pulled out a small vial but it slipped out of his fingers and Marcie scooped it up before he could grab it again.

She held it up to the light, it was a liquid with a pale blue colour. The man was begging at her feet, sobbing and pleading for the vial.

"I'll ask you again," she said to him, "who sent you?"

"I don't know," he sobbed, "please I don't know her name. She was dressed as a maid and kept her face covered that's all I know I swear."

I'd had enough of this. "Get up already, I washed off the poison while you were out."

He stopped sobbing and looked up at me in astonishment. "But but the blade was discoloured." He stuttered.

"Soot and spit." I smirked.

He collapsed back to the floor in relief. Marcie turned to me and gave me a nod of approval. She got the man to his feet and escorted him to the door. "Get dressed I'll be back shortly." She said to me.

"_Are you sure you can still do this?"_

"_Just because I'm older then an oak doesn't mean I'm senile."_

"_Just a little bit rusty?"_

"_I meant to hit it ok."_

"Are we ready Orpheus?"

"The men are assembled. Marcie just sent word to us. Everything is falling into place." He paused for a second. "Are you sure the time is right Bryce?"

"Things have been in motion for longer then you know my friend. Everything hinges on our success in the next few hours."

Orpheus leaned back on his haunches and gave Bryce a long look. "Are you ever going to let us know what's going on?"

Bryce chuckled, "don't worry you'll see soon enough. Go get ready, I'll be with you in a moment."

Orpheus lifted the tent flap out of the way and stepped into the night.

Bryce lifted the little grinding stone and brushed the fine dust off and set it aside. He poured the powder into a small pouch pausing to admire the sparkling glow. "Always enjoy the simple things in life" he said softly to himself. He added the pouch to several more on his belt, each a different colour with symbols on the sides. "As was the beginning, is now the end."

"_The mission was a success."_

"_Excellent. Does he know?"_

"_Oh he'll know don't you worry about that."_

"Come! We must move quickly!"

I jumped off my bed and ran out the door, almost tripping over the dead guard in the hallway. "Why what's happened?"

Marcie barely glanced my way as we jogged down the hallway. "The king has found out about the underground if only by chance. It doesn't matter now. What matters is that the palace is in an uproar and the underground is being hunted down as we speak. It's only a matter of time before they find out about me to. For now though I'm above suspicion."

"Why what did you tell him?" I asked. We came to a stop at a hall junction.

"I told him who the maid that sent the assassin was."

I stood staring at her in shock. "They tried to kill me? Why would they be hunting you if you're protecting me?"

"It doesn't matter to them. All they care about is that I'm a part of the group. This way." She started down the right then stopped and grabbed my arm to get me going.

As we came to the next intersection I could hear the clinking of armour coming from one of the hallways. Marcie had a dark look come across her face and she grabbed my arm and made me start running.

We nearly ran into the soldiers as we came to the intersection. We came to a skidding stop and I saw that it was the kings guard, but before I could see if the king was with them, swords whipped out of sheaths and we were confronted by a very pointy wall.

"Make way! I need to see the king!" Marcie yelled at them and they reluctantly moved out of the way.

"Ah I see you found him. Did you have any more trouble?" The king asked as we approached.

"It's a mess sire. We have the underground coming out of the woodwork but it seems that they have nothing in common but name. We've captured three of the leaders but I'm afraid the rest have disappeared." Marcie reported.

"As is the way of any rebellion," the king sighed, "well, take him to a safe place and report back to me."

"Yes my lord." Marcie bowed and hauled me off as the king and his entourage continued down the hallway.

We quickly made our way down a few more hallways before we arrived at a locked door to which she produced a key and opened the door.

"This is one of the few rooms without a door to the access hallways. It does however have a secret passageway and I need you to do something very important for me." She closed the door and brought me over to one of the large tapestries hanging in the room. She drew it aside and hand me hold it. "Watch carefully now, there is a handhold here, here, and a foothold here. Pull up with your foot, push right, and pull down your left." With a quiet snick the next tapestry down moved slightly. She took me over and revealed a large section of stone that had pulled away from the wall slightly.

"Where does this go?" I asked.

"In a short time you will have some visitors. They will tell you that the Shadow sent them and you will let them in and show them this passageway. Tell them to go down and wait. When you hear a large explosion, go down the passage and ensure they get out safely. Wait there and a squad of elites should arrive shortly. Let them in and do as they ask. Can you remember that?" She took me by my shoulders and looked at me intently.

"Yes. I'll do it."

She pushed the secret door closed and went back to the entrance. "Do not let anyone else in. Here is they key, keep it locked until they show up." She handed me the key and closed the door behind her.

It was quiet for the longest time. I paced around the room, not really paying attention to what was in it. I went back to the combination tapestry and tried it again just to make sure I knew how it worked. I jumped as someone knocked at the door. I let the tapestry fall back into place and went to the door.

"Who is it?" I asked, hopefully loud enough for them to hear.

"The shadow sent us." Came the low reply.

I unlocked the door and opened it quickly. There was a number of people standing outside, I didn't recognize any of them, but that wasn't what I was supposed to do. I let them all in and closed and locked the door. I went over to the tapestry and got one of them to hold it aside as I worked the lock. The secret door popped open and I herded them through stopping one man to give him instruction.

"Go down and wait by the door. I'll come down and tell you to go, but if I don't, when you hear a large explosion open the door and leave but make sure the door does not close behind you ok?" I waited until he nodded then sent him though, closing the secret door behind him.

I had just finished closing it when another knock sounded at the door. I went over quickly.

"Who is there?" I asked.

"Shadow sent me." Came the reply.

I unlocked it quickly but before I could open it a heavy weight crashed against the door and I was thrown back. It was soldiers.

I had no time to think as my training took over. The first soldier had stumbled while crashing into the door but there was another right on his heels. I stepped forward quickly and drove my elbow into his throat then in the same motion grabbed his sword as he dropped it to clutch his crushed windpipe. I brought the sword around in a backhand swing, cutting into the soldier getting up from opening the door. As I finished the motion I grabbed the door and flung it into the face of another charging soldier. As the door bounced back I lunged past him and stabbed the soldier behind him, driving my sword right through. The man who had the door smashed into his face had dropped his sword and I snatched it out of mid-air then pushed him back into the group of them in the hall. Before they could recover I shut the door and locked it fast.

I stepped back breathing hard. It had happened so fast that I wasn't sure it actually happened. The soldier who's throat I crushed was a sore reminder. He was laying on the floor trying in vain to breath. His face was just starting to turn blue. I tore my eyes off him and went to the secret door. Explosion or no explosion they had to get out.

"_Are they set?"_

"_At your command Wizard."_

"_You know you don't need to call me that."_


End file.
